


Welcome to Oz

by findafight



Category: MASH (TV), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Addiction, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Non-Binary Character, Canon Pansexual Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Communication, Crossover, Crushes, Episode: s01e04 Man on the Moon, Gen, Hospitals, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, Klaus ends up at the 4077th MASH, Korean War, M/M, Military, Period-Typical Homophobia, Queer Themes, Time Travel, Withdrawal, about major medical issues that would definitely lay someone not him OUT, basically the beginning of the 4077th adopting klaus as their own, dave is a hot mess but is better at hiding it than Klaus please be nice to him, klaus is like 'ye its fine probably zero relation to the ghost thing', klinger is there just a bit at the end :), mentions of torture, no beta we die like uni students at the end of the semester in the middle of a pandemic, so like doctor stuff, that's the divergent point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:48:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27484531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/findafight/pseuds/findafight
Summary: Hawkeye maneuvers further into the tent and to Klaus’ other side. “Alright soldier, now that we’re familiar--I’m Hawkeye, by-the-by--let’s get you somewhere we can clean those cuts.”“Soldier? Wha- Where am I?” Fuck, the kid’s probably concussed as well as probably being an escaped POW.Katz elbows the door open and says, “MASH 4077, we’ll take care of you.”ORThe briefcase he steals doesn't take Klaus to the frontlines of 1968 Vietnam, but a very specific army hospital in 1951 Korea. (Dave is still the first person he meets.
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz
Comments: 66
Kudos: 149





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is soooo self-indulgent. I saw the first season of UA and was like....Klaus deserved to be at the 4077th. I give this to you. Hopefully if you're not familiar with MASH you can still follow this! Just know its army doctors who basically all hate the war and don't follow army rules but are SUPERB doctors. (Also I woke up and saw I misspelled the TITLE fidofifk)

Hawkeye pauses at a fizz, a flash, a gasp, and a  _ thud _ followed by Kitkat stuttering “Who are  _ you?”  _ coming from inside a tent. He has nowhere particular to be, so decides to stick his nose in someone else’s business and his head through the doorway. 

There’s a bloody someone lying on the ground beside a briefcase, staring dazedly at Katz standing above looking equally confused. Katz blinks and leans down, reaching a hand out to help the guy up. He’s only wearing a goddamn  _ towel _ around his waist, covered in blood, and an overlarge suit jacket hangs open from his shoulders, exposing slowly bleeding cuts and burns on his chest.  _ Shit. _

“I hope I’m not interrupting something, but Kitkatz, who’s your new friend?”

Katz jumps and turns to him, the mystery person shies away from both of them with wide eyes. 

“Hawkeye! I have no idea, I just walked in to get some shut-eye and pop! There he was, on my floor.” he turns to his uninvited guest, “Shit, sorry. You look like hell. Uh. I’m Dave, First Lieutenant Dave Katz?” and, true Southern Boy that Katz is, he offers a (shaky) smile and his hand out to shake.

“Klaus” He croakes, and he shakes Dave’s hand, visibly gripping harder than necessary. 

Hawkeye maneuvers further into the tent and to Klaus’ other side. “Alright soldier, now that we’re familiar--I’m Hawkeye, by-the-by--let’s get you somewhere we can clean those cuts.”

“Soldier? Wha- Where am I?”  _ Fuck, _ the kid’s probably concussed as well as probably being an escaped POW.

Katz elbows the door open and says, “M*A*S*H* 4077, we’ll take care of you.” 

The poor guy stumbles and shakes and asks for someone called Ben as they practically carry him through camp to pre-op so they can give him a once-over and make sure nothing too major is wrong with him. He flops down on the bed and nearly drags Katz down with him, his grip staying firm, staring up at him with watery eyes, lips moving silently, feet twitching. 

Katz checks the man,  _ Klaus _ , for wounds, finds there’s more cuts ( _ deliberate, precise)  _ on his back, cigarette burns ( _ deep)  _ down his arms, bruising on his torso, ankles and wrists rubbed raw, and so on. He has interesting  _ hello goodbye _ tattoos on his palms that remind Hawkeye of trying to summon ghosts as a tenager but they’re healed. No need to dwell. He has more pressing injuries to look at. Hawkeye meets Kitkatz’s eye over his stethoscope.  _ Torture _ . (and odd taste in tattoos)

He stands up and claps Dave on the shoulder, leans down facing away from their newest patient. “You got this, for a few? I’m getting Potter, he needs to talk to the kid and find out who the hell he is.” Dave nods before turning his attention to Klaus, putting his hands over Klaus’ shaking ones.

He lets him breathe until he calms enough, then reaches for iodine and begins to dab at the cuts. Klaus doesn’t flinch.

“Hey, Klaus, can you answer some questions for me?” 

Klaus nods. “Hm? Yeah, yeah okay.”

Dave smiles, picks up his penlight. “Okay, good. I’m gonna shine this in your eyes to-”

“Check my pupils, yeah, yeah. I’ve had concussions and been high before, I know the drill.” 

That’s a bit odd, but whatever makes the guy feel better. He stares into the light and has a normal pupil response. Dave realizes that some of the darker marks around his eyes aren’t bruises like he thought, but some kind of  _ makeup. _ He feels his stomach drop and his hands freeze.  _ Fuck _ . 

The 4077th wasn't exactly overly strict about even  _ caring _ about crossdressing and Section 8, Klinger is obvious proof of that, but this seems  _ different. _ Dave grabs a wet towel and leans close to Klaus, whispering quickly and clearly. “You need to clean your face, you can’t go around looking like  _ that.” _

Klaus blinks at him, touching his cheek delicately. “My dear Davey,  _ that _ is bruising from getting my face used as a punching bag. You  _ must _ realize I don’t have control over  _ that _ .”

Dave huffs, Klaus is surprisingly charming for someone who’s gotten the shit beaten out of him. “Not the bruising,  _ the makeup. _ ” He presses the cloth into Klaus’ hands, 

Klaus pulls back a bit, brows drawn. “What’s wrong with it?”

“You’re kidding, right? I mean, a Section 8 is one thing, but having  _ transvestite _ on your permanent record is another. Don’t you know it’ll ruin your life? Follow you around forever?”

Klaus blinks slowly at him, eyes finally leaving Dave’s face to dart around the pre-op. His eyes widen as he focuses on something off to the side, an IV stand that seems insignificant to Dave. “What year-? No. Nineteen-fifty-one? Korea? Oh, no. Oh nononnonono.” He collapses over his knees, cradling his head in his tattooed palms. He does take the cloth and wipe around his eyes muttering and shaking his head.

It throws Dave a little (but not much. War changes what  _ normal _ is and it takes a lot more than talking to thin air to rattle Dave Katz nowadays.), and he hesitates to ask “Can I touch you, Klaus?” Before waiting for a nod between sobs to start rubbing circles in his back.

“Oh, what the  _ fuuuuck. _ ” Klaus groans. “Fucking,  _ Korea? _ In the fifties? Shit fucking shit. I am  _ so _ not cut out for this. Ben you better get here so I’m not  _ alone _ , fuck.  _ Fuck. _ ” 

Dave is beginning to worry about the utter nonsense coming out of his mouth when Colonel Potter arrives, Hawkeye in tow with Major Houlihan. 

The Colonel raises an eyebrow over his glasses. “Now, what do we have here, Katz? POW?”

“Not sure, Colonel. He showed up outta nowhere in my tent, beat to hell.” 

Potter kneels down next to Dave, looking Klaus--still muttering about how he couldn’t be in Korea, or nineteen fifty-one, and where this  _ Ben _ was-- up and down. He hums. “So, Hawkeye tells me your name is Klaus? Got a number or a last name?”

Klaus lets out a panicked giggle. “Har-Hargreeves. And if you want my  _ number _ , it’s  _ Four.”  _

“ _ Four? _ Son, I don’t know who you are, but you’re not on the  _ Mayflower _ .” 

“I don’t have any other number, I’m sorry.”

Hawkeye speaks up. “You mean you’re not army? What the hell are you doing  _ here? _ ”

Klaus flails his arms widely, showing off  _ Hello, Goodbye _ tattoos on his palms. “I don’t  _ know! _ People with guns looking for my brother kidnapped me, tortured me, asked me where Five was, which like,  _ I don’t know _ , and tortured me more! Diego’s nice cop friend rescued me--hope she's alright, actually-- and I stole this jacket and briefcase. I hoped there was money in it, not fucking  _ time travel! _ ” 

If Potter had a hairline, Dave is sure that his eyebrows would disappear into it. “Time travel?!”

Klaus grins maniacally, “I mean, if you think  _ that’s _ hard to believe, wait ‘till you hear about the ghosts!”

Dave looks at Hawkeye and Margaret, “Ghosts?”

“What do you mean, ghosts?” 

Klaus nods to the corner he was staring at earlier. “Kid over there told me what year it was.”

“Private Morrie passed away yesterday,” Hoolihan says. Klaus giggles hysterically. 

“What part of ‘Ghosts’ don’t you understand? Poor kid, though. Shrapnel in the lung? Sucks.” he turns to Hawkeye, “He says thanks, by the way. You did your best,  _ really _ tried, plus you were funny. That helps.”

Hawkeye squawks indignantly. “Who told you that!?”

Klaus points at the corner, wagging his finger. “Private Morrie! Little Reggie Morrie, from Winnipeg! His platoon was hit by friendly fire, and he got a chest full of dirt and shrapnel for it. He’s worried about his sister, and his buddy Marko who’s in the bed over there.” He points a few beds down from Morrie’s and seems to deflate, head hanging low. “ _ Please, _ no one ever believes me. I’m not lying. I’m from the  _ future _ and this is a  _ really bad day _ .” Dave can’t really argue with that. He lets his hands run through his curly hair, fingers catching on the matts of blood in it. “I’ll swear, on-on anything you want. Fuck, on my  _ brother’s ghost, _ I’m telling you the truth and have as much idea of how I got here as you do.”

Potter’s mouth is set in a hard line, glasses slipping slowly down his nose as he takes in the prying eyes of the patients, nurses, and doctors around them. “And this future of yours, time travel is normal?”

Klaus looks up at Potter, squinting. “What? No! I only found out my brother could do it like, a day...two? Ago, and that’s because he can teleport. No one else I know of can. Except the briefcase, and presumably the crazies who owned the suitcase. And believe me,  _ I  _ know crazy.”

Nodding, Potter stands and turns to Dave. “He mobile?”

“Uh, mostly, Colonel.”

“Good, let’s get him to my office and we can continue this... chat. In private”

“Oh great, more walking.” Klaus mumbles under his breath, but he’s already shuffling to stand. Dave swoops and gets under his arm to help support him on the short trek to Potter’s office. 

Klaus’ eyes seem to catch on things before he flinches away, and it makes Dave wonder about the ghosts he, allegedly, sees. Once Klaus is seated and wrapped in a blanket brought in by Radar, the Colonel pulls his chair around the front of his desk, leaning forward with elbows on his knees and looks him up and down. 

“So. What’s this about  _ ghosts?” _

Klaus blinks, like he wasn’t expecting an interrogation. “Well. I can see and hear them, when I’m sober at least. Except for Ben. I can always see him.”

Hawkeye leans his hip against the desk and remarks “how long have you seen them?”

“All my life. They were manageable until I was ten or so--still scary as shit, mind you, I  _ was _ ten--but then dear old daddy decided the mausoleum was the cure to my  _ completely rational _ fear of  _ ghosts that screamed at me _ . Then it-” Klaus shakes his head. “Well. It was  _ less _ manageable, until I self-medicated that is.”

Houlihan comes in (and damn, Dave didn’t realize she had left, so intent to listen to this absolutely  _ bizarre _ man) with a saline jar and IV line. She holds them up. “Sorry to interrupt, but this man is dehydrated. I’m getting a line into him.” Turning to Klaus she cocks her head, “That alright with you?”

He nods, sticking his arm out. “Don’t worry about track marks. Injectables were never really my thing, and when I  _ did _ use ‘em, I went for the toes.” He wiggles his bare feet, as if to emphasize their lack of scarring.

Margaret frowns at that, but she gets on with inserting the IV. When she’s ensured it’s dripping properly, she sits in the chair by the door, arms crossed and silent.

Hawkeye swallows, mirroring the discomfort of everyone else in the room with Klaus’... _ blazé  _ attitude to his own injuries. “So...Klaus. You’ve seen ghosts all your life and are from the future?”

Klaus opens his tattooed palms and shrugs. “Yep. pretty much.”

“What year?” Dave blurts, and all eyes turn to him. “What year are you from?”

Klaus tilts his head and smiles mischievously at Dave. “Twenty-nineteen.”

“And what’s the twenty-first century like?” Potter asks, leaning back in his chair.

Humming, Klaus bounces his knee. “Well, the cold war is over. And, uh, inflation? I’m not very good at history, so I don’t really know what I can say to convince you.”

“Just, something.”

“Uhhh, well, superpowers aren’t the norm. My siblings and I are the exception. Except we were all adopted and it’s complicated. Um.” Klaus’ words almost slur together with how fst he starts talking. He draws his eyebrows together and licks his lips, concentrating.“Sorry, just. I’ve been sober for approximately 24 hours and like, Ben isn’t here to talk me down and I’m kinda starting to panic because it’s sinking in that I’m actually in the past? Like I know I had that mini breakdown in front of you, Davey, but like. What the fuck? Who gets kidnapped and then once they get rescued gets thrown sixty years into the past? In a war zone? Like obviously it could have been  _ worse _ I guess? Vietnam would have sucked shit, but ideally I  _ wouldn’t be in the past. _ ”

Dave runs a hand up and down Klaus’ arm, trying to calm him. “Hey. Breathe for me okay? We’ll figure this out.”

He bursts into panicked giggles. “Oh, Dave. You’re real pretty but I’m definitely having a panic attack, and my emotional support ghost brother isn’t here to talk me down. It’ll be okay, and-”he whips his head to the side, where no one is. Or, no one Dave can see. He still looks, trying to hide his blush because  _ nope. _ “ _ Shut UP,  _ whoever you are! Can you not see I am in the middle of my own existential crisis?? Leave me alone and I’ll help you ‘go to the light’ or whatever it is you want me to do just stop  _ screaming  _ at me!  _ Fuck _ .” He exhales shakilie, his non-IV’ed hand rubbing at his ear. 

Theres a few moments that klaus breaths deeply, stuttering sometimes on the way out but it evens out rather quickly. Dave doesn’t know what to do. The poor guy’s obviously been through some  _ shit _ but he doesn’t know what to think of this  _ twenty-first century _ stuff.

Klaus huffs, licking his lips as raises his head and nods. “Okay. Future stuff, yeah? Phones. Big thing. They’re small enough to fit in your pocket and even have a computer in them. Wild, right? I remember when the internet was born-that's, uh, like a big interconnected telephone network but on computers? You can talk to someone across the globe in real-time.” His knee bounces. “Uh-um. Oh! Music! Elvis, he’s in the fifties, yeah? The Temptations? Destiny’s Child? Queen!”

“The Queen of England is a musician in the future?” Radar asks from the doorway. It’s basically useless to try to stop him overhearing anyways, Dave doesn’t blame Potter for not enforcing it. 

Klaus laughs, a small and genuine huff. “No, no. The band’s name is Queen.  _ Excellent _ discography.”

Potter adjusts his glasses. “Back to the point, son. Ghosts, the future, you said five people could teleport?” 

“Wha-no, no. Just my brother.”

“You said your brother was dead and a ghost,” Hawkeye says.

“No, my brother  _ Ben _ is a ghost. My brother Five can teleport. Through space  _ and _ time now. Five’s his name. Didn’t want one when mom gave them to us.”

Hawkeye and Margaret share a look.  _ Didn’t they have names from birth? _

“So why doesn’t you brother-Five?- come get you?”

Visibly sinking in on himself, Klaus smiles ruefully. “I assume because he doesn’t know I’m missing. No one really notices when I’m missing, comes with being the unreliable druggie of the family. And if he  _ did _ I’m not sure if he’d be able to find me.”

Potter lets out a soft, sympathetic sound. Radar whispers “oh, dear.” the rest of them are silent. 

Dave scratches his cheek and finally,  _ finally _ breaks the tense quiet by clearing his throat. “Well, if that briefcase doohickey is the thing that brought you here, why don’t you use it to go back?”

Klaus looks at him like-like he- “Dave, I could  _ kiss you,”  _ he says, careless of Dave’s squeak and blush (Who does that? Just says shit that could get them  _ arrested? _ ), and grabs for the briefcase. 

“Alright. Okay. don’t touch me because I don’t know how time travel works but I assume that touching the briefcase is what makes you take a trip. Better safe than sorry. Here we go.” Klaus grips the brackets, flips them, closes his eyes, and opens the case.

  
  


Nothing happens.

Klaus opens one eye to check where he is then blinks at them all. He looks inside the case and frowns. “That should have worked. Maybe it needs to recharge?”

“Uhh, maybe. Colonel, what are we gonna do with him? If he’s, y’know, a futuristic personified Ouija board, we can’t just leave him to the wolves. Or worse,  _ Frank.” _

Potter hums. “You don’t happen to be a doctor, do you kid?”

He blinks slowly. “Uh. No.” Then quickly, he snarls at the corner and says something Dave is  _ pretty sure  _ isn’t English, but it’s hard to tell with how angry he sounds and how quickly he talks. 

Potter’s eye brows once again climb past where a hairline would be. “And what, pray tell, was that?”

Klaus blinks again. “Umm. Russian. Ghost kept yelling about Stalin, who-didn’t he die already?”

Houlihan jumps forward, head cocked. “You speak Russian?”

“Well, yeah? I speak like-” Klaus seems to count on his fingers, then gives up. “A bunch of languages. Ghosts from birth, remember?”

“You speak Korean?”

Klaus nods. “Sure do. Very handy for binging dramas.” 

“And for talking to civilians,” Margaret says. 

“Indeed.” Potter leans back, a smile tugging his lips. “Well, Ouija-man. How’d you like to be the 4077th MASH’s official interpreter?”

“Are. are you offering me a job?”

“If you have a better idea.”

“You don’t think I’m crazy?”

Hawkeye laughs. “Man, we’re all crazy. You have to be, here.”

Chuckling, Klaus nods. “Well, haven’t got anything better to do, have I?”

Radar quickly walks out and back in, carrying a stack of forms “Here are the forms for personnel-”

As he does, Potter says, “Radar, grab new forms for personnel-”

Hawkeye laughs. “Welcome to the club, Ouija. You even got a nickname your first day.”

Potter looks up from the forms Radar is passing to him. “Where are we going to put you, though? Can’t stay in pre-op if you’re on the payroll.”

“He can bunk with me and Klinger, we have room.”

Potter nods. “Good, good. Don't get in too much trouble, you three. I’ve got enough to deal with from the Swamp dwellers here.” Hawkeye makes an offended noise but doesn’t respond. 

Dave stands. “Of course, sir. We’ll let you rest a bit here, and then I’ll show you your new five-star accommodations.” he turns “Radar, can you help me get some bedding and clothes for Klaus from supplies.”

“Oh! Yes sir. I think I can even manage to get him some boots!”

Hawkeye calls after them, through the door, “Where was that when  _ I  _ needed boots?!” and Radar hunches sheepiliy but smiles. 

Dave and Radar drop off the new cot and clothes to his tent, before going by Potter’s office to pick Klaus up. He grins at Dave when he returns and stands sturdier than before. His IV is gone. “Ah! My guide is here, to whisk me away to the Chateau Dave!” 

He links their arms as they leave, which Dave tells himself is because Klaus is still woozy, but the wink Klaus throws at him makes him swallow anyway. It’s not very far, the 4077 isn’t very large, but Dave keeps his head down the whole way, to keep his blush at bay. 

He holds the door open, and says, foolishly, “Welcome to Oz.”

Klaus enters and turns to look at Dave curiously. “Oz?”

“Oz, dear. ‘Cause we’re a buncha Friends of Dorothy, supposedly.” Klinger says, not even looking up from doing his nails. 

Nodding, Klaus looks around their tent, Klinger’s colourful dresses and stockings hanging from the ceiling and Dave’s belongings on the other side noticeably less vibrant. He plops on his new bed and grins. “Guess I’ll fit right in, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See! now the title makes sense! A play on "welcome to korea" (ep 1 of season 4) and wizard of oz :) I went back and forth on what to call Klinger and Dave's tent, but love that being a "Friend of Dorothy" is code for being queer/gay and thus. Oz. These characters are fun and I can just imagine the hijinks that could ensue with this crossover.... but I'm not sure if I'll add a second chapter to this, so let me know if you want it!! Dave is an anesthesiologist i guess i think?  
> Hit me up at my Tumblr too to yell about fandoms or this fic specifically!  
> [findafight](https://findafight.tumblr.com)  
> I'm also second-guessing posting this so like,,,validate me. comment please (kudos too!)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I'm doing it, pals! chapter 2 is here! (And actually made it to post one week later which I don't think I've ever done skasjdhf.)  
> for the uninitiated, here is my personal brief description of MASH characters so you aren't too lost!  
>  **Hawkeye** : Cheif surgeon very good at his job but hates war bc who doesn't? Drafted. smartass. roommates with BJ and Frank. bit of a slut. hyper-empathy king. prankster. big bi energy  
>  **BJ** : surgeon, has a wife he adores and a new baby daughter! later he grows a big moustache. has dad vibes tbh. bffs with hawkeye. can flutter his eyes to get out of trouble probably.  
>  **Frank** : bitch. loves the war. not a great doctor. general ninny.  
>  **Colonel Potter** : horse girl. wife stan. Korea is his third war so he's seen it all. got a temper, but says grandpa swears about it. dad of the unit.  
>  **Major Margaret Houlihan** : head nurse, I love her, badass. cool wine aunt. Takes her role seriously, looks out for the nurses. principled, used to have a fling with frank but thank GOD grew out of him  
>  **Klinger:** cross-dresses to get out of the army. everyone is like "cool dress dude" and he's like "does this mean I can go home?" and they are like "no. you just have good taste. maybe if it were worse we'd think you were crazy enough to go home." absolute LEGEND. makes many of his clothes. various jobs, all done in a matching ensemble.  
>  **Radar:** company clerk. tiny son of any officer that wanders into camp. 18/19 year old draftee with ESP and can hear helicopters before anyone else. adopts animals like batman adopts vigilante kids. is baby.  
>  **Father Mulcahy** : camp priest. catholic. the dryest of humour. sister is a nun(a sister sister!)! super chill and just wants to help. a bit overwhelmed sometimes  
>  **Kelley:** nurse. very cute. i love her. she's not in this chapter but Kelley needs more love. she's kind and caring and tries to teach radar to dance. girl next door vibes. i love her

Dave is woken that night by Klaus screaming into consciousness. He hears the sobbing and sits up, watching as he mutters to himself and clasps hands over his ears. He jumps out of his own bunk and kneels next to Klaus, reaching a hand out but not touching— shell-shocked soldiers rarely like surprise touch, and Dave still isn’t sure what to make of his new bunkmate. 

Klaus blinks wetly at the hand, then up to the man it’s attached to. He doesn’t speak. 

Quietly, Dave passes him a canteen and motions for him to drink. 

“Nightmares?” Dave tries again. Klaus shakes his head. 

“Ghosts.” He swallows, grabs the offered hand. “They scream at me.”

Dave frowns, “even at night?”

Klaus’ lip trembles. “ _ Especially _ at night. I had to drink just to get to sleep, until I got better drugs. But they still scream.”

He exhaled through his nose. “You really weren’t joking, yesterday, were you? About the future and everything.”

“Not one lie.”

Dave nods. Alright then. Klaus sees ghosts and is from the future. He can’t say he’s heard weirder, but he’ll do his best to accept that the 4077th has met its match. Nothing, hopefully, will ever top having a time travelling spiritualist as their translator. 

“Okay. You still need rest. Try and get some sleep. I’ll-uh-I’ll be right here,” he pats the ground beside him “if you need.”

He nods, and lies back in bed with his hand still grasping Dave’s. He evens his breathing deliberately as Dave leans against the side of the bunk, until it slows naturally in sleep and Dave’s eyes are too heavy to stay open. 

Next thing he knows, his hand is being tugged from under his face and his cheek is meeting the rough canvas of the cot, Klaus shaking and sweating beside him. Klinger is already up, pink nightgown partially covered by a half-on housecoat trailing behind him in haste.

“New kid’s muttering something fierce, Kitkat, what’s this about?”

Dave mutters “I dunno,” as he grabs Klaus’ wrist to check his pulse. Erratic, but strong. He squeezes his shoulder, hoping for some response but all he gets is a groan and Klaus curling further in on himself. Dave goes through what he knows about Klaus, trying to think of what could have changed. Future, ghosts, siblings,  _ drugs.  _ “Oh,  _ fuck.” _

“Katz?”

“He’s in withdrawal. We can’t really do anything about it, ‘cept keep him comfortable and hydrated.”

“Withdrawal? Katz what the hell?”

Dave rubs the back of his neck, biting his lip. “It’s a long story, but basically, he was in shock yesterday, so the symptoms probably didn’t show until last night when he was finally able to rest.”

“Hm. alright, then. I’m getting BJ to help you, his shift isn’t until this afternoon. I expect an explanation when this cools down.” Clinger aggressively ties a bow in his housecoat and sweeps out the door, leaving Dave beside a shivering Klaus. 

He shakes his shoulder again, and klaus finally blinks his eyes open. “Huh?”

“Klaus, hey.”

“Hm? Who…?” he blinks like he’s trying to focus.

“I’m Dave, you met me yesterday. You’re safe now. I think you’re going through withdrawal.”

“Uhhhg. You mean the whole ‘time-travelled to nineteen-fifty-fuckin’-one’ thing wasn’t a nightmare? Fuck.” Klaus pulls the blanket up to his chin, crinkling his nose in a pout.

“Uh. Yeah. Klinger-our other roomie-has gone to get BJ, a doctor.”

Klaus squints at him, “Aren’t youuu a doctor?” 

“Two is better than one, as they say.”

Nose scrunching, Klaus slurs slightly, “You dunno what to do with me, do you.”

It isn’t a question. “Ah, well, not really. You’re my first patient that’s time travelled, so I’d like to get a second opinion.” that gets a chuckle from Klaus.

“Trust me, Davey, I went through the worst of it duct taped to a chair in a motel closet. This is just the tail end of things, and I’ll be sober as a spring lily in a day or so.” He tries to grin, but the shakes and sweat on his brow dampen the effect. 

Dave grabs the canteen from last night, nudging Klaus with it. “Well, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be taken care of. Drink more water.”

Klaus nods, sitting up for a better angle. He looks up when the door clacks against its frame, indicating Kling has returned with BJ. 

“Howdy, I’m BJ Hunnicutt. You must be the Klaus everyone is talking about.” He smiles, eyes scanning Klaus for anything major in a way Dave recognizes from doing it himself countless times. 

Klaus stutters “o-oh ho. Popular already, and it hasn’t been a day yet. Yes, though it seems like the other one-who was that, Dave? With the nickname-”

“Hawkeye,”

“Yes, yes.  _ Hawkeye _ seems to have bestowed upon me the grand title of  _ Ouija _ and seeing as that’s  _ far _ better than the codename my father gave me, and the fact everyone around here goes by one, I’ll stick with that.”

BJ raises his eyebrows at dave. “Talkative for a guy going through withdrawal, aren’t you?” 

Klaus laughs and tilts his head sideways. “Sweetie, you have  _ no _ idea.”

BJ sits on Dave’s bed, across from Klaus, and Dave realizes that maybe he should stand and  _ let go _ of Klaus’ hand. He doesn’t. 

“Alright. So, what’s the story, Kitkatz? Klinger said all you told him was you had a new roomie.”

Klinger sheds his housecoat and sits on his bed. “Yeah, I’d very much like an explanation, especially considering the state he’s in. Where the hell did he come from?”

Dave blinks and looks up at Klaus, who’s licking his lips and looking off into space but breathing steadily. Not much help then. “Well, he sort of, uh, appeared? In our tent. And apparently is from the future.”

Klinger stares at Dave. “A...time traveller? Don’t shit me, Katz, who is he?”

He raises his hands in surrender, finally releasing Klaus. “I swear! That’s what he said, and um-hecanseeghoststooIguess.”

“Pardon?”

Klinger looks at BJ, trying to get back up in an obviously failing battle of getting a more probable truth out. “He can see  _ GHOSTS?” _

Dave shrugs. “I guess so? To be fair, he had been tortured before he landed here and was in shock?”

Rubbing his temples, BJ sighs, defeated. “So Hawk wasn’t yanking my chain when he said our new interpreter learned from ghosts?”

“No…”

Throwing his hands up, Klinger flops back on his bunk “At the pace we are accepting shit like  _ this _ as  _ normal _ , I’m  _ never _ going to get a Section 8!”

  
  


The hilarity of sitting in Potter’s office as Frank talks about  _ moulding  _ and  _ shaping _ Klaus into the  _ perfect _ soldier is nearly overwhelming. Knowing Klaus for about a day, Dave is sure that Klaus could rival  _ Hawkeye _ for the top spot on Frank Burns’ list of insubordinate degenerates; and much like Hawkeye, it’d be a point of pride for the guy.

Potter rubs his eyes under his glasses, “Let the man get  _ settled _ , Major Burns. He just escaped from a POW camp,” Unanimously, those in-the-know decided to leave out some details about how Klaus came to be with them, namely: everything. “He’ll be our  _ translator _ , not-”

He’s interrupted by Klaus, draped in one of Klinger’s more revealing gowns and throwing up a sloppy salute, trapeses into the office as though he hadn’t had the jitters twelve hours earlier. “Klaus Hargreeves, reporting for duty, sir!” 

Everyone stares at Klaus for a second before Burns whines “nooooo, not _another_ _one_!” Causing Potter to snort.

“Well, son, no one can say you don’t know how to make an entrance. Sit down and we’ll get some paperwork sorted out. Burns, you’re dismissed.”

Frank opens his mouth to complain, snaps it shut and trudges out the door, muttering what Dave is pretty sure is “Why is it always  _ my  _ MASH that gets the crazies?”

Shaking his head, Potter leans back “So, the fatigues we gave you not up to snuff?”

Klaus bites his nail and looks around the office, taking in the portraits of Potter’s family and horses, and shrugs. “This is much more my style.”

“Well, can’t say it’s regulation for interpreters to parade around in skirts, but nothing about you so far has been by the book, so who am I to judge.”

Giving away just how  _ nervous _ Klaus had been( _ shit _ , Dave thinks the dresses might be more than getting a section 8 to Klaus) he straightens from his hunch and grins brightly at the Colonel. 

“Let’s get you some IDs, alright son? Radar has, completely on his own and without any assistance from me nor calling in favours, found your ID number and will order a fresh set of tags for you just as soon as we get a bit more info from you. Radar!”

Already through the door, Radar hands Potter Sheets of paper, explaining that they’re emergency contacts and the like as Potter asks for the emergency contact forms etcetera. (It never does get old, seeing the kid live up to his nickname) 

Klaus spreads out the papers, looking a bit lost. “I don’t know how to tell you this...but my birthday is october 1st 1989.”

Potter shrugs, “Put Oct. 1 1929.”

“And my emergency contact?” 

“Put me or Katz if it comes to it.”

“You are very casual about foraging forms”

Colonel Sherman Potter leans forward and looks at Klaus over the rim of his glasses, “Kiddo, I fudged  _ my own _ papers in the Great War, so I don’t see how helping a weary traveller get back on his feet, especially since he’ll be workin’ for me, is any of the army’s business.”

Klaus purses his lips and nods. “Well, alright then. Davey, what’s your home address?”

  
  
  


Three days into Klaus’ tenure at the 4077 he gets called to translate for a local Korean that got caught by a landmine. He sits down next to her in post-op and speaks softly, nodding as she whispers to him, eyes flickering around at the doctors and nurses bustling behind him. Dave keeps an eye on them, but Klaus seems focused on the young woman trembling beside him. 

Suddenly, Klaus sits up and whips his head around, looking past Dave at the wall. He looks between the spot and the woman as he speaks quickly. Her eyes widen and fill with tears as she nods and begins to sob into a shocked Klaus’ chest. Dave places a hand on Klaus’ shoulder.

“What’s up?”

Klaus looks up and leans into the touch, but continues rubbing circles on the woman’s back. “Her father was killed a few weeks ago...I saw his ghost. Told her what her dad said to tell her.”

Dave nods, patting Klaus’ shoulder and removing his hand before he can do something stupid. “And...is her dad still here.”

Klaus shakes his head, and smiles when the girl touches his face, doesn’t let go when she leans back into his chest. “No. He--I think she moved on. To wherever it is he’s supposed to be.” He speaks something to the girl, because now Dave sees her up close, she can’t be more than seventeen. She nods again and leans back into the pillows. Klaus stands and waves at her, turning to Dave, a small smile tugging his lips. “Her mom should be here, c’mon.” he grabs Dave’s sleeve so casually, fingers grazing the back of his hand, that he can’t bear to tug it away.

They find the girl’s--Soon-Bok, Klaus says--mother trying to talk to Radar in a mix of her limited English and Radar’s own rudimentary Korean. Radar brightens and points to Klaus, causing the woman to approach them. Klaus starts speaking, and guiding her back into post-op. She brightens and sobs when she spots her daughter, rushing to her and embracing her tightly until it’s obviously too tight and she releases her to cup her face, openly weeping in relief. Dave doesn’t need to speak their language to know their love. 

Beside him, Klaus sighs, and Dave sees from the corner of his eye he has a hand on his cheek and the other holding his elbow, staring wistfully at the reunited family.

“Y’know,” Dave fights a blush as Klaus turns his gaze on him, “I think I could get used to this place.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please comment/kudos! I added this chapter bc people told me I wasn't the only one cosumed by the though of Klaus messing about with the 4077  
> Hit me up at my Tumblr,  
> [findafight](https://findafight.tumblr.com)  
> and let me know if yall have opinions about having side stories/non chronologically posted in a series for this au!  
> also tell me if i need to change the character descriptions bc i wrote them in like two minutes


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus pov!! cw for panic attack (not extremely explicit but it's there)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dave's from Texas and that's all I know of season 2 so he has a lil bit of an accent and I love him. PLUS it's the fifties idk Uhh this chapter's a bit shorter than the others but like, better short chapter than no chapter? Finals and also just existing in a pandemic are kicking my butt so that's why I haven't updated. Hopefully once I have break I can update regularly and write ahead so I have a stockpile! anyways enjoy! leave a comment and kudos I love you all :)

Klaus isn’t quite sure what to think of the MASH unit he’s landed in. It’s filled with good people doing their best in a bad situation, but it’s also-- y’know--  _ seventy years in the past _ . It’s also a war zone. Which means people get wounded, which means they die horribly, which means there’s a lot of ghosts, which means he’s itching for a hit except he’s pretty sure a lot of the drugs he’s taken haven’t been  _ invented _ yet (do drugs get invented? He thinks some do) or at least aren’t readily available and even he wouldn’t steal from the medical supply just for a fix. 

That leaves him with the swill from Hawkeye and BJ’s still to keep the edge off, and while that shit is  _ horrid, _ isn’t the worst shit he’s drunk to take the edge off his spectral stalkers. (It’d have to beat the rubbing alcohol that had almost blinded him that he’d chugged at twenty-one to drown out the chorus of  _ kindergarteners  _ mangled and sobbing around him in the alley, which is notably hard to get worse from. Klaus can readily admit he’s hit some people’s rock bottom a number of times over the years, and he’s still digging.)

So he manages with playing cards and drinking shitty homemade gin and considers actually  _ talking _ to the ghosts. He’s been thinking about what Ben would say, because it seems Ben wasn’t able to travel with him through time so it seems Klaus has to be his own sense of reason now (which will  _ not  _ end well). Ben would probably tell him to talk to someone, but he just wants to talk to  _ Ben _ . 

Who isn’t here, so the whole “what would Ben say?” tactic is working as well as it did when Ben was actually saying it to him.

Klaus didn’t really think his life could be  _ more _ fucked up than he already was just by his very existence as a Hargreeves, but apparently the universe hates him. He’s tried the Briefcase every day for a fortnight before admitting defeat and deciding to try it once a week. Not get his hopes up. 

But, the thing is. Even if he’s been in Korea for less than a month, he’s starting to get attached. Since landing at the 4077, he’s gotten busy; had a purpose. Everyone pulls their weight when casualties roll in so he learns how to be an orderly from Klinger, or how to tag and bag personal items with Radar, or to avoid Father Mulcahy when he holds a hand and looks at a patient (who likely isn’t Catholic but still takes comfort in a Man of God near, somehow) with that little head tilt when it’s  _ really  _ bad. He figures out how to make (nearly) everyone laugh, (which he hasn’t been able to do for his siblings since they were ten and he started using) Somehow, within the chaos, Klaus feels like he’s starting to belong. (Or at least like he isn’t dead-weight.) All-in-all, not as bad as teleporting to the past into a warzone could have been, and he thinks he’s mostly got into the groove of things.

Which is why it takes him by surprise when he has to run out of post-op and squat with his head between his knees to take gasping breaths to prevent himself from vomiting after he has the unfortunate experience of holding a dying man’s hand and watching his ghost form standing beside the bed he lay in with wide, frightened eyes. Klaus didn’t stick around to hear him scream. 

He just thinks about what Ben would say.  _ Breathe. Focus on five things you can see, touch, smell, hear. How many toes do you have.  _ So he breathes in then out, concentrating on listening to the snuffling of Colonel Potter’s horse, smelling the dirt and hay and leaves, feeling the twist of his toes in his boots. 

Klaus ignores the chatter from post-op, so doesn’t notice the footsteps coming toward him and nearly jumps out of his skin when a hand is placed gently on his shoulder.

“Woah! Sorry, Klaus, sorry.” Dave puts his hands in front of him, placating. “I was just checking on you, t’see if you were alright. You ran outta there pretty fast.”

Klaus smiles shakily at Dave, nodding. “Yeah, yeah man. Just.” he rubs his eyes. “Fuckin’  _ ghosts _ .” 

Dave frowns and nods, sitting down next to Klaus on the ground and resting his forearms on his knees. “Wanna talk about it?”

He huffs. “Y’wanna  _ hear _ about it?”

Dave looks Klaus right in the eye before nodding. “Only what you’re willin’ to tell.”

Somehow, that’s what does it for Klaus. Dave is sincere and concerned and the last person to actually be worried about Klaus was  _ literally _ dead while doing so. It starts with his lip trembling and eyes pricking and then he can’t control himself or hold it back and  _ doesn’t want to. _ He maybe pathetically (but that’s nothing new) throws his arms around Dave’s neck and unabashedly weeps into his shoulder. 

For his part, Dave doesn’t miss a beat, wrapping Klaus up in a hug and squeezing just right. He rubs circles into his back and hums, whispering things Klaus can’t understand through his chest wracking sobs. 

He cries and sniffles and mumbles nonsense until he can’t cry anymore, but still clings longer. Klaus’ arms feel like wet noodles and his face feels swollen when he finally pries himself off of Dave, who looks unperturbed, like he has time travelling disasters throw themselves sobbing at him at least once a week. It’s one of the things Klaus likes so much about Dave, his taking everything in stride. 

Dave gives a half smile before standing and offering a hand in assistance. Klaus grabs it and holds on longer than needed, but Dave doesn’t mention it, just furrows his brows. “You wanna talk about it now?”

Klaus swallows, sighs. “At the tent? Our shifts are over, aren’t they?”

Dave nods and leads the way back to  _ Oz _ . Klaus collapses on his bunk as soon as he is in suitable flopping distance and curls to face Dave, who sits on his own bed watching Klaus with a little frown. “...sooo”

“I miss Ben.” and it's such a simple thing. Homesickness. Missing his closest friend. But Klaus has been trying for so long to get out of his association with his family and ghosts that it’s alien to him to  _ want _ to go back to them. He has to swallow around the lump growing in his throat to go on. “My brother, the dead one who haunted me since he died. He-”a shuddering breath, and he looks away from Dave. “He’s the only one that actually gave a shit about me. Always nagging to take care of myself and eat, not do so many drugs. The one person I actually  _ trusted _ to have my back, and he’s dead and not even here, so I can’t talk to him. I miss him and when I turn to talk to him and he isn’t there beside me it’s like I’m realizing that he’s  _ dead _ which I already knew, but it’s different. I can’t write letters to a dead kid that hasn’t even been born yet. ”

Dave hums, but doesn’t say anything. Klaus continues. 

“So I’ve been thinking ‘okay, what would Ben say? What would he want me to do? In this absolute fuck-up of a situation I’ve found myself in.’ and it’s always the same thing, that I should try to talk to the ghosts to see what they need. But-that’s-I  _ can’t  _ do that. That’s like inviting a vampire into your house; it’ll only end badly. And, like, Dave...I’m  _ scared.” _ there it is. “I am a grown ass adult scared of ghosts and miss my brother and I’m in a war zone and I’m scared. I held a kid’s hand as he died and turned into a ghost and  _ couldn’t handle it _ . It’s fucking--I dunno. Pathetic.”

“You’re not pathetic.” Dave;s voice is steady. “You’re someone in a crazy situation trying to cope. We all are, here, but you especially. Maybe your brother would be right, that it’d be good to try and, I dunno, control your powers? I’m not sure how they work.” He walks over and sits beside Klaus’ curled legs on the cot.

“I coul- no. Dave. My dad locked me in a mausoleum for hours on end to force me to get over my fear. I can’t-I don’t know how to.” He sees Dave’s jaw tighten. “I don’t know how to not be afraid of what I can see.”

“I’m not going to make you do anythin’ you don’t want to. But maybe taking an hour or so every once in a while would help keep ‘em at bay?” He rubs his thumb into Klaus’ calf gently, and he tries very hard not to read into it. When he says things like this, so earnest and determined to help, actually believing Klaus and trying to understand what he means, Klaus thinks that he might be able to fall in love with Dave. Klaus doesn’t let himself think about Dave’s kind eyes and calm demeanor that hides he’s just as batshit as hawkeye and BJ in anything other than a platonic manner because it could never end well (yes he does, it still won’t end well). They are literally from different worlds, and are in the middle of a war in a time where they could be arrested. It doesn’t mean that Klaus can’t start down a slippery slope he thought he’d never be on towards  _ longing. _

He breathes deeply for a moment, holding it in before letting it out slowly. “How often d’you think it’d have to be?”

Dave shrugs, “no more than once a week.” 

“Just like church” Klaus huffs. 

“We could see if you could use Father Mulcahey’s tent for some privacy for your...unique spirituality practices.”

Klaus bursts into laughter. “I think I put ‘pagan’ as my religious affiliation so he’d probably believe it.” 

Dave chuckles himself. “He’d let you even if it weren’t”

“But it’s funnier this way, isn’t it.”

Rolling his eyes, Dave stands. “Suuure. You want to grab some grub?”

“Ewww, but Yes.” Klaus sits up, looking up at Dave. “And thanks. For listening. It means a lot to me.”

Dave’s grin softens into a smile that’s more from his eyes than mouth and offers his hand to help him stand. “‘Course, Ouija. You’d do the same for me. And if you need to talk about your brother again, you know where I live.” he sounds confident in it. Like he trusts Klaus to look out for him and pull his weight. He leaves him a little breathless, the faith Dave (really, everyone at the 4077 but mostly  _ Dave _ ) has in him. He doesn’t want to let him down. “Now c’mon, let’s see what muck they’re serving today.” 

Klaus takes his hand and grins.

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is [findafight](https://findafight.tumblr.com)  
> talk to me! :)


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